1855 United States Tycoon

Chapter 98 Patriotic Model Shi Gaozhi

General McDowell’s defeat not only caused him to lose his position as commander, but also made the situation of Hua Shengdu suddenly dangerous. The location where the Confederate Army defeated the Confederate Army was only more than thirty miles away from Washington. Moreover, compared with the historical station, the Confederate Army’s superiority in that battle was even more obvious. Due to their equipment and tactical advantages, they killed more than 4,000 Federal Army in this battle. More than a thousand people were captured. This number has almost doubled compared to the original historical figure. On the other hand, the loss of the Confederate League was much smaller than in the original history. They only paid about 400 casualties. In the original history, although the Southern Army won and eliminated more than 2,800 Union troops, it also lost more than 1,700 men. Taking into account the population gap between the north and the south, such an exchange ratio is not enough to defeat the north.

In the original history, the Confederate League did not immediately march toward Washington after this victory. Because the Confederate League’s losses in this battle were not too small, it did not have much confidence in attacking Washington. But this time is different. The loss of the Confederate League is almost insignificant, while the Union army has almost lost confidence and morale is extremely low. Some soldiers who had escaped from the gun of the Confederate army even suffered from MacDonald’s 1857 rifle phobia. They even dreamed of the Confederate army’s rapid and precise platoon of guns, and then woke up with a scream of fear.

Two days after the battle, Confederate cavalry appeared on the outskirts of Washington. Although they did not make any offensive moves, the flag of the Confederacy in their hands made the whole of Washington chaotic. Various rumors began to fly around the sky like wings. Some people say that the southern army has gathered a hundred thousand troops and it is about to fight over; others say that the southern army has reached a place less than ten miles from Washington; some even say that the southern army is about to complete the encirclement of Washington, and there is only one left. There is a small gap in the north facing downwards.

This series of rumors caused chaos in Washington, and many people simply fled with their families. Twenty-four hours a day, the train station in Washington was crowded with citizens who wanted to flee Washington.

In such a situation, Lincoln had to relocate troops from other regions to Washington to ensure the safety of the capital. Although doing so would affect the Northern Army’s attacks on other fronts, it is in the current crisis. , This is almost the only choice.

At the same time, Lincoln also issued a call to the entire Confederation, asking everyone to form a volunteer army to defend the capital.

Relying on the more developed railway system in the south, the reinforcements of the federal army arrived very quickly, while at the same time, the southern army was a little hesitant about what to do next. The front-line commanders, General Pierre Borregard and General Joseph Johnston, both hoped to be able to pursue victory and march towards Washington, and eventually capture the capital of the Confederation, forcing the Confederation to end the war. And President Davis of the Confederacy, as well as in the defensive phase of this battle, used trenches like a stone wall to firmly withstand the five attacks of the federal army and bring them huge damage. Brigadier General Jackson, who received the nickname “Stone Wall”, resolutely opposed the attack on Huashengdu.

President Davis believes that even if Washington is conquered, the Commonwealth may not agree to make peace. Historically, Washington has not been conquered. During the Second American-British War, the British conquered Washington and set a fire to burn both the Presidential Palace and Capitol Hill, but this did not force the United States to seek peace from the United Kingdom. On the contrary, the humiliated and angry United States people united even more, and finally defeated Britain and won the victory. Conquering Washington will not necessarily cause the North to give in. On the contrary, it may make the North feel deeply humiliated and become more reluctant to compromise.

As for Brigadier General Jackson, his reasons are more tactical. He believes that if we can use trenches, the Yankees can naturally use them. And they do not lack the talents for such operations. Since the long talk with Scrooge, he has done a lot of research on the trench defense tactics that Scrooge proposed. And he has always been concerned about the movement on Scrooge’s side. Later, after the method of trench combat appeared in Italy for the first time, he even went to Italy personally to understand how the method of trench combat performed in actual combat. So Scrooge’s “Black Water” played a role in this battle, and naturally he couldn’t escape his eyes. Scrooge was a northerner, and it was impossible for northerners to ignore his experience after the outbreak of the civil war. After this battle, this is even more true. Therefore, if they want to attack Washington, then it is themselves who are facing the damn trench defense. And damn it, although Jackson has a deep research on trench operations, he really hasn’t been able to research any effective way to deal with these damn trenches.

“The emergence of the trenches really makes the offensive an extremely difficult thing. Well, isn’t this what Mr. Macdonald intended? By increasing the cost of the attack, and curbing the desire to attack. This is what the South really wins. The right way to be independent. A reckless offense will only make you lose in vain. Even if you must launch an offensive action, it should be implemented in a mobile warfare. Instead of attacking others’ positions.” “Stone Wall” Jackson thought this way, so he was naturally less interested in attacking Washington.

Scrooge, who is familiar with history, of course expected this fiasco a long time ago, and he could also foresee that in this time and space, because of some of his previous cheating actions, this fiasco of the Federal Army will definitely be changed in the original history. awful. So after the fiasco, Lincoln may be about to issue the “King of Diligence”. Therefore, before this battle, Scrooge asked Heishui to slowly end all kinds of business at hand, gathered the personnel, and prepared to stage a story of turning the tide and turning the tide after this fiasco. With this momentum, a package of contracts including weapons, ammunition, personnel training, etc. was taken in, and he was full of money.

When Lincoln’s call for volunteers was issued, Heishui had basically assembled his own personnel. Except for those who stayed in key areas and could not use them, Heishui had gathered more than 800 people. This number is not large. But when Heishui was formed a few years ago, Scrooge, who was preparing for this day, certainly had his way. In fact, before that, the mercenaries in Heishui had undergone a lot of tactical training. So in the name of responding to Lincoln’s call, Scrooge, with the help of the Cleveland city government, gave Blackwater’s troops the name “Cleveland Volunteers”, and then began to directly recruit volunteers, and these were recruited. The newcomers were dispersed and incorporated into the “Blackwater” combat sequence, and the size of the troop was quickly expanded to 5,000 by using a veteran to lead several recruits.

At the same time, in order to express his love for the United States and his hometown of Cleveland, Scrooge announced the donation of 5000 MacDonald 1857 rifles free of charge as weapons of the “Cleveland Volunteer Corps.”In the original history, Rockefeller chose to donate money for service during the Civil War, that is, to donate a few hundred dollars, and then there is no need to serve as a soldier. This made him often blamed later (his opponent and one of his Little Brothers). But this time, he didn’t have to do this, because his name was included in the list of officers of the “Cleveland Volunteer Corps” and was in charge of rear material support.

As for Gardner, who is interested in official career, well, he became the commander of this legion. At least nominally, the commander of the “Cleveland Volunteer Corps” is him. And he also won the rank of brigadier general given by Ohio. Of course, the fact is another matter. Gardner knew that in this position, Scrooge was fulfilling his own promise and provided him with a good opportunity to climb up. As for the battlefield command, the actual command is in the hands of Robson, who is now appointed as a lieutenant colonel by Ohio, and the ultimate command is undoubtedly in the hands of Scrooge. In fact, without Scrooge nodding, even Lincoln would not be able to command this army.

At the same time, Cleveland’s most famous “Salvation” Hospital announced that they will temporarily close the hospital. All medical staff will rush to the front line to serve the bloody soldiers on the front line. The McDonald Chemical and Pharmaceutical Company naturally announced that it would donate a batch of medicines to support their charitable deeds, and will also provide various needed medicines to the federal army at a preferential price.

At the same time, the “McDonald Chemical and Pharmaceutical Company Union” also issued a call, calling on employees to work two more hours of voluntary work outside of normal work every day to make their own contributions to their own motherland. What, do you worry that workers will not be able to work on the assembly line for ten consecutive hours? Have you forgotten what McDonald’s Chemical and Pharmaceutical Company produces? It is nothing more than to let workers eat more “power pills.” The trade union organized a large banner in the workshop, which read: “For the motherland, work hard!” The company promised that the wages the workers deserve in their voluntary work will be sold as medicine at the most favorable price. , Donated to the soldiers on the front line.

This series of charitable acts was immediately widely reported by various media. At the end of July, when the Southerners finally agreed and decided to launch at least one exploratory attack on Washington, Scrooge personally brought the sulfa, heroin, and “Dali Pills” donated by McDonald Chemical and Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. As the president of the “Salvation” Hospital, along with the “Cleveland Volunteer Corps” led by Gardner, he rushed to Washington as the first patriot to respond to President Lincoln’s call. President Lincoln met them personally and publicly praised Mr. Scrooge McDonald as a role model for America’s patriots.